cattle

CEFRC1

/ˈkætəl/

noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    Cows and bulls kept on farms for meat or milk.

  2. 02

    noun

    Extra detail

    Certain other livestock, such as sheep, pigs or goats. Also rarely applied to horses.

Examples

  • And he chased the cattle, the sheep, and the people out of the temple.

  • This particular breed of cattle matures early.

At a glance

Sits at C1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
1
Citations
5
Synonyms
5

Also pronounced

  • [ˈkʰæɾəl] ~ [ˈkʰæɾl̩]
  • [ˈkʰætʰəl] ~ [ˈkʰætʰl̩]

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings

  1. People who resemble domesticated bovine animals in behavior or destiny.

  2. Domesticated animal of the species Bos taurus (cows, bulls, steers, oxen etc), and other hoofed mammals of the genus Bos.

  3. Used in restricted contexts to refer to the meat derived from cattle.

More examples

In context

  • If a particular whale species isn't endangered, then there's not a blind bit of difference between butchering them or cattle.

  • Many cattle were suffering from a disease called BSE.

  • Cattle feed on grass.

Synonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

The farmer led the herd of blank to the watering hole.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

noun

From Middle English catel, from Anglo-Norman catel (“personal property”), from Old Northern French (compare French cheptel, Old French chetel, chatel, also English chattel) from Medieval Latin capitāle, from Latin capitālis (“of the head”) (whence also capital, from caput (“head”) + -alis (“-al”)). For the sense evolution, compare pecuniary and fee. Also compare Russian поголо́вье (pogolóvʹje, “total number of livestock”) from Russian голова́ (golová, “head”). Doublet of capital and chattel.